The Broad Brush: Your Alameda News in 60 Seconds

Before and after shots offered during a presentation on plans for the former Del Monte warehouse at 1501 Buena Vista Avenue in Alameda.

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Broad Brush, your weekly, two-sentence news review. Here are your headlines for the week.

The Harbor Bay Intercultural Committee celebrated its 16th annual Spring Festival on Saturday with dances, martial arts demonstrations and this performance by the Lincoln Middle School band. Donna Eyestone captured the flavor the festivities in this video.

Harbor Bay Isle Associates has asked the city to pause its controversial application to build 80 luxury homes where the Harbor Bay Club now stands, the company’s president confirmed today – and the company is asking the city to speed approvals on its proposal to build a new fitness club on North Loop Road. Thomas told the Planning Board on Monday that a hearing on the club proposal could take place in May.

A Sacramento-area homebuilder has unveiled plans to build up to 414 lofts, townhomes and flats and 25,000 square feet of shops and restaurants in and around the old Del Monte warehouse at the corner of Buena Vista Avenue and Sherman Street. City Planner Andrew Thomas told the Planning Board on Monday that he’s hoping to have development approvals completed in four months, with final approvals to be considered by the City Council in June.

Alameda’s Board of Ed considered a land and cash swap deal with the city, interim budget figures and more. Here’s our tweet by tweet.

A 94-year-old concrete bench that may be Alameda’s best-known piece of park furniture could soon fall to the wrecking ball. The Recreation and Park Commission considered a proposal Thursday to get rid of the storm-damaged Clark Memorial Bench and to replace it with a new bench and landscaping.

The city wants your thoughts on a new draft of its “blueprint” for housing development, which lays out where new homes could be built, how many could be built and what programs and the policies in place to support home building efforts. It’s available to view on the city’s website.

Bills that would revamp the community college accreditation process and permit worker cooperatives are among the nearly two dozen proposed so far by Alameda Assemblyman Rob Bonta during the second half of the 2013-14 legislative session.

News in brief(er): Alameda Point-based America’s Cup team Artemis Racing has retained Frenchman Loïck Peyron … and Alameda’s sales tax take is on the rise.